Today, the team explored the Punggen Valley by visiting an ancient monastery and gompa – all in while continuing their acclimatization efforts up to 13,300 feet! Expedition leader, Terray Sylvester, checks in with today’s dispatch:
Hello! This is Terray calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Manaslu (8156m/26,759ft) expedition – it’s September 5th.
Today we started the day with a blessing at the old gompa here in Samagaun (3530m/11,581ft), then we went for an acclimatization hike up the Punggen Valley down towards Shala. It was a beautiful hike – we went up to about 13,300 feet! At the top of the valley is an ancient monastery where we lit a few butter lamps before returning to Samagaun.
So, all is well here and we’ll be in touch with an update tomorrow!
Hiking up the Punggen Valley. Photo: Terray Sylvester
Buddhist mantras along the trail to Punggen. Photo: Terray Sylvester
The gompa in Punggen. Photo: Terray Sylvester
In addition to these expedition dispatches, you can also follow our teams as they make their attempts on the world’s most formidable mountains on:
– Amazon Alexa devices with the Madison Mountaineering Flash Briefing skill:
- Enable the skill and add to your flash briefing to hear our daily audio expedition updates on select expeditions. Just say, “Alexa, play my flash briefing.“
– Instagram: